An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

Another name for → frost.

The world's largest meteorite found in 1920, near Grootfontein, Namibia. It was discovered by Jacobus H. Brits while ploughing one of his fields with an ox. The meteorite is tabular in shape and measures 2.95 x 2.84 m; it has an average thickness of about 1 m (1.22 m maximum and 0.75 m minimum). The Hoba meteorite weighs about 65-70 tons. Its chemical composition is 82.4 % iron, 16.4 % nickel, 0.8 % Cobalt, and traces of other metals. No crater is present around the site of the meteorite, probably because it fell at a lower rate of speed than expected. The flat shape of the object may be responsible for its low velocity at impact.

Named after Hoba West, the farm it was discovered; → meteorite.

An → orbital maneuver using two timed engine impulses to move a spacecraft between two coplanar circular orbits. It is performed through an elliptic orbit which is tangent to both circles at their periapses (→ periapsis).

→ Hohmann transfer orbit.

An elliptical orbit that is the most economical path for a spacecraft to take from one planet to another. In the case of Earth-Mars travel, the desired orbit's → perihelion will be at the distance of Earth's orbit, and the → aphelion will be at the distance of Mars' orbit. The portion of the solar orbit that takes the spacecraft from Earth to Mars is called its trajectory. Earth and Mars align properly for a Hohmann transfer once every 26 months. → Hohmann transfer.

Named after Walter Hohmann (1880-1945), German engineer, who developed basic principles and created advanced tools necessary for the conquest of space. In 1925 he published The Attainability of the Heavenly Bodies in which he described the mathematical principles that govern space vehicle motion, in particular spacecraft transfer between two orbits.

1) General: An opening through something; an area where something is missing; a serious discrepancy.
2) Astro.: → black hole; → coronal hole.
3) Electronics: The absence of an electron in the valency structure of a crystalline semiconductor, behaving like a positive charge carrier.

O.E. hol "orifice, hollow place," from P.Gmc. *khulaz (cf. O.H.G. hol, M.Du. hool, Ger. hohl "hollow"), from PIE base *kel- "to cover, conceal." → cell.

Surâx "hole," from Mid.Pers. sûlâk "whole, aperture," Av. sūra- "hole;" cf. Gk. koilos "hollow," L. cava "cave," cavus "hollow;" PIE base keuə- "to swell; vault, hole."
Câlé, câl "hole," from câh "a well, pit," from Mid.Pers. câh "a well;" Av. cāt- "a well," from kan- "to dig," uskən- "to dig out" (O.Pers. kan- "to dig," akaniya- "it was dug;" Mod.Pers. kandan "to dig"); cf. Skt. khan- "to dig," khanati "he digs," kha- "cavity, hollow, cave, aperture."

The injection of holes in a semiconductor which can be produced by application of a sharp conducting point in contact with an n-type semiconductor.

→ hole; → injection.

1) A day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.
2) Any day of exemption from work.
3) (in plural form) A period of cessation from work or one of recreation; vacation.

O.E. haligdæg, from halig "holy," → heiligenschein, + dæg, → day.

1) Sepantruz, from sepant "holy," → heiligenschein, + ruz, → day.
2) Âsudruz, from âsud, âsudan "to rest, repose," from Mid.Pers. âsutan, Av. ā- + saē- (saii-) "to lie down, go to sleep;" + ruz, → day.
3) Âsudgân, from âsud, as before, + -gân suffix forming plurals.

A combining form meaning "complete, entire, total, whole," used in the formation of compound words: → holonomic, → holography, holomorphic.

From M.E. holo-, from O.fr., from L. hol-, holo-, from Gk. holos "whole," akin to Pers. har- "every, all, each, any," as below.

Haru, from Mid.Pers. har(v) "all, each, every" (Mod.Pers. har "every, all, each, any"); O.Pers. haruva- "whole, all together;" Av. hauruua- "whole, at all, undamaged;" cf. Skt. sárva- "whole, all, every, undivided;" Gk. holos "whole, complete;" L. salvus "whole, safe, healthy," sollus "whole, entire, unbroken;" PIE base *sol- "whole."

1) A great or complete devastation or destruction, especially by fire.
2) (usually initial capital letter, preceded by the) The systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II (Dictionary.com).

M.E., from L.L. holocaustum, from Gk. holokaustos "burnt whole;" see → holo- "complete, entire, total," → caustic "burning; burnt."

Harusuc "entirely burnt;" → holo-, → caustic "burning; burnt."

A three-dimensional image produced with the technique of → holography.

→ holo-; → -gram.

Of, relating to, or produced using → holography; three-dimensional.

→ holo- + → -graphic.

A → diffraction grating produced from a series of constructive → interference fringes. The fringes, whose intensities vary in a sinusoidal pattern, correspond to the grooves of the grating. They are recorded on a photosensitive substrate and subsequently treated using a chemical procedure. Since the grooves are created by the interference of light, such a grating is free from the random and periodic errors present in → ruled gratings.

→ holographic; → grating.

A technique for making three-dimensional images by recording → interference patterns from a split → laser beam on a medium such as photographic film. One of the → coherent beams irradiates the object, the second beam illuminates a recording medium. The two beams produce an interference pattern, called → hologram, on the film. The hologram contains information on both → phase and → amplitude of the object. However, this information is in a coded form, and the image must be reconstructed. When the object is removed and the hologram is illuminated by the laser from the original direction, a 3-dimensional image of the object appears where the object was originally, as if it were not removed. The visible object seems so real that the observer can detect → parallax by changing the position of one's head.

From → holo- "whole" + → -graphy. By using the term holography, Dennis Gabor (1900-1979), the Hungarian-British electrical engineer and inventor, wanted to stress that the technique records complete information about a wave, both about its amplitude and its phase, in contrast to the usual photography in which only the distribution of the amplitude is recorded.

A material system in which the → constraints can be expressed in the form of an equation relating the coordinates.

From Gk. → holo- "whole" + -nomic, related to nomos "law, managing, governing, custom," → -nomy; → system.

1) Respect or reverence paid or rendered.
2) Something done or given in acknowledgment or consideration of the worth of another (Dictionary.com).

M.E. (h)omage, from O.Fr. homage "allegiance or respect for one's feudal lord," from homme "man," → human, + -age.

Bozordgâšt, literally "considered to be great," from bozorg "large, magnificent, great," → magnify, + dâšt, dâštan "to maintain, consider, possess, keep in mind, hold, have," → property.

A combining form meaning "same" used in the formation of compound words. Also, especially before a vowel, hom-.

Homo-, from Gk. homos "one and the same," also "belonging to two or more jointly," from PIE *somos; cf. Pers. ham-, as below; Lith. similis "like," Goth. sama "the same," samana "together."

Ham- "together, with; same, equally, even," Mid.Pers. ham-, like L. com- and Gk. syn- with neither of which it is cognate. O.Pers./Av. ham-, Skt. sam-; also O.Pers./Av. hama- "one and the same," Skt. sama-, Gk. homos-; originally identical with PIE numeral *sam- "one," from *som-. The Av. ham- appears in various forms: han- (before gutturals, palatals, dentals) and also hem-, hen-.

Concentric → spheres of Eudoxus.

→ homo-; → center; → -ic; → sphere.

Of, or pertaining to the process of combining two waves, such as → electromagnetic waves, of the same → frequency. See also: → heterodyne.

Homodyne, from → homo- + -dyne, from Gk. dynamics→ dynamics.

State or quality of having a uniform appearance or composition, being homogeneous

→ homogeneous + → -ity.

1) Of uniform composition or having a common property throughout.
2) Math.: Of the same kind so as to be commensurable. Of the same degree or dimension. → anisotropic homogeneous cosmological model, → homogeneous fluid, → homogeneous linear differential equation, → homogeneous Universe, → homogeneous turbulence, → inhomogeneous, → nonhomogeneous, → nonhomogeneous linear differential equation.

Homogeneous, from M.L. homogeneus, from Gk. homogenes "of the same kind," from homos "same," → homo-, + genos "race, kind," gonos "birth, offspring," from PIE base *gen-/*gon-/*gn- "to produce, beget, be born," cf. Av. zan- "to bear, give birth to a child, be born," infinitive zazāite, zāta- "born," zana- "race" (in sruuô.zana- "belonging to the race of the horned ones"), O.Pers. zana- "tribe" (in paru-zana- "consisting of many tribes"), Skt. janati "begets, bears," jana- "creature, human being, race, tribe, people;" L. genus "race, stock, kind," gignere "to beget."

Hamgen "of the same kind, like each other; friend, partner," from ham-, → homo-, + gen "kind," O.Pers./Av. zana- "race; tribe," cognate with L. genus, as above). Alternatively, gen may be a variant of Mid./Mod.Pers. gôn/gun "kind, type; manner; color, skin color," from Av. gaona- "hair, hair color, color."